Food for single person in flat

daggy

spike7451 wrote: »

Single bloke here as well!..Have a look on Freecycle or Gumtree for a cheap tabletop freezer first off.
Keep meats & perishables at the back of the fridge where it's the coldest,that will help them last longer obviously.Sausages are a must,they can be used for sausage casserole or breakfast.My local pound shop sells packets of bacon for a quid that last me a week,far better value than buying from the supermarket.
Make friends with your local butcher,I'll go into mine & ask for a fistful of mince,pork,ect that is enough for one.Batch cook a base of mince beef/chicken,peppers,onions ect then add spices ect for a curry or bolognaise.
Invest in some of those baggie clips so that if you buy a packet of Chili Con Carne mix,you only need to use half of it,then seal the unused spices & reuse next week.
Don't buy a bag of spuds,they'll just sprout so buy 4 or 5 large ones loose for chipping/mash ect.One large spud does me a meal.Store cupboard staples are things like Oxo cubes,Pilau Rice,Risotto Rice,Light Soy sauce,salt & pepper,ect.
Good luck.

How much were they again? :P

Good advice though:)

sproggi

level200 wrote: »

How can a single bloke eat healthily and plan meals for a budget without a freezer?

The same way that a single woman would (it's a bit like a woman stating she is female when asking for diy advice;))

I agree with the advice that you have been given on this and your other thread about looking for a freezer from somewhere like freegle, or, if you have somewhere to store the fridge that comes with the flat, a fridge/freezer that you could take with you if/when you move.

Tins, packets etc of basics and then youu could try visiting the shops later in the day for whoopsis (reduced items) and work meals around them.

Sproggi

RAS

Take a tip from a very old cookbook - Katherine Whitehorn.

Buy a jar of mixed herbs; recipes demand oregano, basil, marjoram etc etc. Rather than having lots of barely used jars going off have one that you turn over regularly to lift a lot of different meals. They are great added to stew, pasta sauce, omelette, baked veggies etc.

Also consider jar of pesto; add to soups, stir into potatoes, noodles or pasta, use to top baked tomatoes, in tomato based sauces, under cheese for toasties. if you like it of course...

PasturesNew

Get yourself down to Lidl and grab their £5 microwave egg boiler. It takes 4 eggs, which is way too many, but at £5 it's genius. No pricking... just put some water in the bottom, plonk two eggs onto the tray, pop the lid on and nuke them - egg and soldiers in 5 minutes.

So far I've tried doing two large eggs twice in 700 watt microwaves. First time for 7 minutes and they were both hard-boiled (doh), next I tried two large eggs for 5 minutes and they were spot on.

And - no washing up.....

I love egg/soldiers. Two big eggs and two pieces of toast is well under 30p.

You can buy similar 1-egg units, but that requires hunting down, so the Lidl one's easier to just go and grab this week (offer started Monday).

Austin_Allegro

Some good tips here. I would second the suggestion about the bag of frozen veg. Sainsbury's do one for about a pound, so if you only put one thing in your freezer make it that. You just shove them in the microwave and you get hot veg in an instant.

For carbs, Cous cous or instant mashed potato or noodles are also good because you only need to add boiling water.

For protein, tinned kidney beans are dirt cheap, (better for you than baked beans) tinned fish like sardines are easy to cook too.

SpottedLeopard_2

I second the student cookbook idea!

Batch cooking is the way to go as it saves having to cook every day, as long as you don't mind having the same dinner twice/three times in a row (if hungry you will eat anything though!) My favourite is stew, as the longer you leave it, the more the flavour develops hehe. Potato/carrot/leek and frankfurters or chicken? Sausage/tomato/chorizo/butterbeans? Very tasty. I'm not a fan of freezing meals and then defrosting though, as it tastes different and the texture might change - I reheated frozen potatoes and they turned to mush, felt like eating baby food :eek:

Floozie

I would always have some eggs in the kitchen as they are so versatile - omelettes with cheese, left over ham etc as a quick meal, fried egg and chips for a quick tea (I knwo it is not healthy but once in a while will not do you any harm), scrambled eggs on toast for quick lunch or tea.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

lovetopaint wrote: »

Depending on space and budget, you could try looking for a 'table top freezer' or 'counter top freezer' on ebay. I would struggle without a freezer. Wish you all the best.

I've got one.

Don't bother.

Toothbrush

Hi I was over in budgeting and it was kindly suggested I could maybe pick up some tips over here.

I'm looking for ways to cut my food bills. I'm ashamed to say I don't really have a budget in place at the moment but really want to save some money to pay off my debts so I can get out of my hideous job.

As the title says its really tips for eating as a single person. The money I do spend on food seems to end up wasted because things go off.

Some useful info that seems relevant:

I only have a smallish freezer (2 shelves) which at the moment houses 2 packs of mince that must've been in there about 2 years, I take it that should be thrown out? And a tub of Ben and jerrys cookie dough ice cream (minus the cookie dough, yes I'm weird)

I have a hand me down slow cooker, that's small, just a bit bigger than a soup bowl. I honestly have no clue how it works, it doesn't seem to have any settings. And to be honest it's that old I don't know if it even still works at all.

I don't own a microwave.

What's the smallest amount of money that's reasonable to get by on?

msgnomey

Got lots of suggestions but
A few questions first

What sort of meals do you like?
Where can you shop?
How often will you want to shop?
Do you have a farm shop near by?
Can you store bulk buy tins etc?
Do you want to eat meat everyday?

Have a look at http://www.cheap-family-recipes.org.uk/recipe-applecurd.html?opt=p1m1 but you do need to be dedicated and like to cook IMHO!!